Everything Else
by singerme
Summary: A short Christmas visit with the family from The End of Nineteen and The Beginning of the Rest. For my friend Janie.
1. Chapter 1

Everything Else

I don't own these characters; I just like to spend time with them. No other profit to be had.

**Author's Note: This is for my friend Janie, who wanted a Christmas visit with Matt and Kitty after they left Dodge. This is a follow-up story to The End of Nineteen and The Beginning of the Rest.**

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"Mama." Four year old Matthew ran into the house, leaving the door open in his rush to speak to his mother. "I wanna go with Daddy." He declared as he ran into the kitchen, tracking mud on his mother's just mopped kitchen floor.

"Matthew!" Kitty chastised him. "How many times have I told you to wipe your feet? And go close that door. We can't heat the outdoors as well as the inside."

"But I wanna go with Daddy." Matthew restated ignoring his muddy boots and the still opened door.

Kitty shook her head, passed her son and went and closed the front door, not realizing in her irritation that Matt was just about to enter. "Go where, Matthew?" Kitty asked her son as the door opened again and Matt came in carrying 2 and a half year old twins Tommy and Caroline.

"Hey what was the idea of closing the door in our faces?" Matt asked as he sat his children down and bent to help them off with their coats.

"Oh I'm sorry, honey." Kitty said crossing over to help with her children's clothing. "I didn't see you all there. I thought Matthew had just left the door open again.

Hearing his name, Matthew ran over tugging at her skirt. "I wanna go, Mama. Please."

Kitty looked at him then at Matt. "Go where?" She asked.

"I plan on riding out into the country tomorrow and finding us a Christmas tree." He told her. "Matthew wants to go."

"Un huh." Kitty said decisively. "It's too cold and too far out. You all would catch your death of cold."

"No I won't, Mama." He protested. "I won't die, honest."

Kitty smiled and shook her head. "I didn't mean it like that, sweetheart." She said as she reached to unbutton his coat and take his boots off. "I just meant you could get sick being out in the cold."

"No I won't." He stated again. "I promise."

Matt, sensing an argument between his stubborn son and his wife decided to head things off at the pass. "Matthew, why don't you go on upstairs to your room and take your brother and sister with you? Okay?"

"Will you tell her its okay I go with you?" He asked, with pleading in his bright blue eyes.

"We'll talk about it." Matt winked at his son, watching him turn and take his younger brother and sister by the hand and lead them to their rooms upstairs, somewhat mollified. Turning back to Kitty, he saw the look on her face. "Kitty," he began.

"Oh, no you don't, Matt Dillon." Kitty declared when her children were safely out of ear shot. "I am not going to let you take my son clear out in the middle of the woods in this kind of weather."

"What do you mean 'this kind of weather?" Matt asked. "It's not doing anything out there."

"Oh really?" Kitty asked pointing to the window. "Then what's that white stuff on the ground out there? Salt?"

Matt took a deep breath and realized the argument between his wife and son had switched to him and her. He didn't blame her really. She'd had such a hard time with her pregnancy with the twins and with Matthew being so sick three months prior, Kitty had become extremely cautious with her children.

"Kitty," Matt said softly. "I'm sorry, honey. I don't want to fight. If you don't want Matthew to go, he won't go."

Kitty looked up at Matt ruefully. "No, Matt. You have nothing to be sorry for. I was just being over protective again. I know I shouldn't be so worried all the time but…"

"But you love your kids and came too close to losing them and don't want to take anymore chances." Matt finished for her as he reached over and pulled her into his arms. "I understand that, Kitty. Honestly I do, but sooner or later you're going to have to relax a little."

Kitty nodded against his chest. "I know you're right but it's hard, Matt. I can still remember Doc's face when he told me I might lose the twins and when Matthew was so sick…" a hitch in her throat stopped her as she struggled to keep from crying.

"Kitty," Matt said gently, patiently. "The thing you have to remember is that you didn't lose the twins and Matthew got well. They're all three healthy, happy kids. But they're not gonna remain happy if we smother them in a desire to protect them."

Kitty didn't answer for a while. She knew Matt was right but it was hard to relax and let go. Images of what almost happened kept playing over in her mind. "I'll try, Matt." Was all she could bring her self to promise.

Matt kissed the crown of her head and hugged her tightly before releasing her to remove his coat and boots. As he pulled off his coat a thought occurred to him. "Say, Kitty, I've got an idea."

"What?" She asked taking his coat from him to hang it up.

"How about you and the kids come with me tomorrow?" he asked. "I was planning on riding out to Professor Harwood's place for the tree. We could pack a picnic lunch, and eat out there before heading home."

Kitty looked at him curiously for a moment. "All of us?"

'Matt nodded. "Yes, all of us. We can borrow Homer's sleigh and leave in the morning. Make a day of it. The kids would be happy and we'd both be there to make sure nothing happened to them." Matt could tell she was thinking about it wasn't entirely convinced just yet.

"I don't know?" she hedged. "I mean, since he passed away no one's been out there besides the bank."

Matt nodded. "That's true, but what of it? The house will still be there. The bank wouldn't mind us borrowing the fireplace to get warm while we ate.

Kitty was still hesitating, still not sure.

"Oh come, honey." He cajoled. "It'll be plenty warm in that sleigh with blankets wrapped around everyone and with the two of us there to watch them, the kids would be completely safe and we'd have some fun. All of us."

Kitty thought about it as she hung up Matt's coat. The kids were getting a little stir crazy with being cooped up in the house and she knew they hadn't had a day just for the family in some time. Matt's 'in name only' job had proved to be more than that lately and Matt had been spending very little time at home.

"Alright," she sighed. "We'll do it. But I want us home before it gets too late and when I tell the kids it's time to go, you had better back me up."

Matt chuckled as he pulled her back into his arms and pulled her up for a kiss. "Yes, Ma'am." He said.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Everything Else 2

I don't own these characters; I just like to spend time with them. No other profit to be had.

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The next morning dawned cold but relatively clear. Brilliant rays of sunshine enhanced the sparkle of the snow and made the little town glisten. There were a few darks clouds in the northern sky but they were far enough away that Matt doubted they would affect their weather until after he and his family had made it safely back home.

After eating a hearty breakfast, the family bundled up and headed out to the heavy sleigh Matt had hitched up and waiting for them. Placing the large picnic basket in the back of the wagon, Matt helped Kitty up and placed each of the children in the back seat, wrapping them up securely in several large, heavy quilts.

Kitty was still a touch apprehensive about taking the children out into the snow covered countryside but with Matt's constant assurances that they would be alright and be perfectly safe, she tried to relax and enjoy a rare day out with her husband and children.

As they glided down the lane out of town, Matt pulled Kitty close and kissed her forehead. "Thank you, Kitty." He told her. "I promise you; today is going to be fun."

Kitty nodded and snuggled into his side. She hoped that he would be right and they would have a good day.

A couple miles out of town and Matt begun to sing in his slightly off key baritone, joined a few minutes later by Kitty's alto and the giggles of their children behind them. The singing worked to dispel any lingering doubts Kitty had about this little foray and she found herself completely relaxed and enjoying herself when they finally reached the little farm Professor Harwood had set up as his workshop.

Going in through the gates, Matt remembered the night Matthew was born and how he and Festus had made fools out of themselves trying to stop a crime that hadn't been committed. Grinning at the memory he reflected on how grateful he had been that there had not been any danger and he could return to his wife and newborn son, whole and unscathed.

Pulling the sleigh up in front of the farmhouse door, Matt told Kitty and the kids to stay in the sleigh until he made sure of the house. He hadn't noticed any tracks in the two day old snow but he wasn't going to take any chances either with his family there. Getting down, he headed to the door and looked around carefully before trying the door which to his surprise was ajar.

Glancing back at Kitty and the kids, he said nothing but Kitty saw the look of concern on his face and immediately tensed up, looking back at her children she was prepared to do whatever it took to protect them should some threat be beyond the door.

Pulling his gun, Matt cautiously pushed the door open and entered. Except for a rickety table and 3 chairs and a small couch, the place was empty. Matt quickly checked the other rooms and found a small cot in one room but nothing else.

Stepping back outside, Matt crossed back over to the sleigh. "The place is empty," he told Kitty. "The banker just must not've secured the door when he left."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that." She said relieved.

Matt nodded. "Yeah me too, but if I'm not mistaken it's gotten a little colder out here. What you say we go on in and get a fire going. Then we can take the kids and go look for a tree. We'll come back here and eat when we find it then go home."

"Sounds like a deal." She smiled as he helped her and the kids down. "As long as we don't stay out long."

"I promise," he said, crossing his heart and raising his right hand with a grin.

Once inside it didn't take Matt long to get a fire going with the little bit of wood left beside the fireplace. "Before we take off, I think I'll go out back and bring some more wood in. That won't last long," he said.

"Alright," Kitty agreed as she carried the picnic basket over to the table.

After locating the still full wood bin out back, Matt picked up an armload of wood and headed back in, pausing only long enough to glance up to the top of the small hill where the lonely grave of the professor lay undisturbed under the snow. "If not for the grace of God," he thought to himself. Carrying the wood back inside, he smiled knowing that would not be his fate as he had at one time thought.

When the fires in both the fireplace and the wood stove were going strong and Matt had carried in 3 more armloads of wood, he helped Kitty and the kids back onto the sleigh and drove it a little further north where he knew there was a good stand of fir trees.

Kitty looked up as they got off the sleigh and frowned. "Matt, those clouds seem to have thickened up some. I think we'd better find that tree and hurry back."

Matt looked up at the darkening northern sky and agreed. "Yeah, they do a little but I don't think there's any hurry. We'll be fine. Come on."

Picking the tree turned out to a little harder than Matt had thought as each person had a different view of what the perfect tree should be. Kitty wanted the tall, full tree with wide branches but Matt refused to cut it down, declaring he would have to raise the ceiling to get it into the house.

Matthew found a small little tree, lopsided and missing several branches on one side that he declared was 'pewfect'. He, like his mother, was overruled by his father, who chose instead another tree just a few feet away from the one Kitty had wanted. Though larger than Matthew's choice, Kitty ruled it out completely.

Finally, they settled on large a Douglas fir that Kitty allowed would be acceptable. Matt pulled out his axe and set himself to cut it down. That of course proved to easier said than done. Each swing of the axe seemed to have little effect on the tough trunk of the evergreen, but with persistence and a mighty strong swing, Matt finally had it down and tethered to the back of the sleigh.

While Matt was busy with the tree, Kitty and the children made themselves busy, collecting pinecones for decoration and laughing merrily as they engaged in a snowball fight.

Matt laughed heartily at their antics until he became his oldest son's target, getting hit several times with frozen missiles that more often than not landed just above his collar and melted hastily down his back. Although, he didn't enjoy the cold melting snow sluicing down his back, looking at the joyful faces of his family he couldn't be angry.

When the tree was finally down and tied to the sleigh, Matt decided it was time he joined in the fun his family was fully engaged in. Before long, all five members of the Dillon family were cold and exhausted but thoroughly happy with their day. "I think it's about time we head back," Kitty finally said as she pulled her cloak a little tighter around her and glanced up the gathering clouds.

Matt nodded in agreement and with an eye to a darkened sky, Matt swiftly helped Kitty and the children back onto the sleigh and back to the house. "Kitty, I'm not sure about this weather." He told her. "It seems to have gotten bad awful quick."

Kitty looked up and nodded. "Yeah, I agree. Maybe we should just go ahead and grab our things, put out the fires and go home?"

Matt studied the heavens again and shook his head. "I don't think we'd make it, Kitty. That storms moving in fast. Let's get the kids inside and warmed up. There's plenty of wood out back and we can hunker down here until it passes."

Kitty looked up again and nodded. "I don't think that's too bad an idea."

As Kitty and the children went inside the house, Matt drove the sleigh into the barn, unhitched the horse, fed and then watered him. Finally he covered him lightly with a blanket, before heading back in with another armload of wood.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Everything Else Conclusion

I don't own these characters; I just like to spend time with them. No other profit to be had.

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Kitty and Matt sat huddled by the fireplace, hugging their children close and listening to the fierce winds outside as they collided with the house, causing the old structure to shudder and shake with each gust.

"I sure am glad we have a place to shelter from this." Kitty said cradling a sleeping Caroline in her lap as Matt held both of his slumbering sons. "I'd hate the thought of what could've happened if we'd been caught outside when this took hold."

Matt nodded. "Me too." He agreed absently.

Kitty looked over him, concerned. "What's wrong, Matt?"

"Hmmm?" Matt looked up at her not really hearing her question as he had been deep in thought. "What'd you say?"

Kitty shook her head. "I didn't _say_ anything." She replied smartly. "I asked you a question."

"What?" Matt asked confused.

"I asked you what's wrong?" she said, exasperatedly. "And don't tell me nothing. I know you too well for that."

Matt knew she could read him like a book and shrugged. "Oh nothing's wrong, honey. I was just thinking about the professor lying out there in a lonely grave and about us."

"What do you mean?" she asked curiously. "What do we have to do with the professor dying alone?"

"If God hadn't of been so good to put you in my life," he clarified, "I would've died just like he did, alone, with no one to grieve me. You know it wasn't too many years ago I thought that was my fate. I thought we would never be together. Not that that I didn't want us to, I just thought we never would."

Kitty gave him a half smile and looked down reflectively, watched the flickering firelight in front of her. "It wasn't too many years ago that I thought the same thing." She said softly. "But we did it. Took a lot of changes, for the both of us, but look at what we have now. Three beautiful children and a life most people envy."

Matt nodded, his smile thoughtful but less than joyful. "Yeah, I know. I just wish sometimes, that I hadn't been such a stubborn fool for so many years. Seems like a lot of time was wasted getting to this. We should've had many days like today by now, not only with our kids but by now with our grandkids."

Kitty shifted Caroline carefully in her lap and moved over closer to Matt, resting her head on his shoulder. "What's got you in this kind of mood?" she asked. "I've not complained recently about your timing have I?"

Matt chuckled lightly. "No, you've not complained about too much of anything. Maybe that's the problem."

Kitty raised her head and looked up at Matt with an arched brow. "What's that supposed to mean? We don't have any problems right now."

"Not right now, no, but … well… I don't know, Kitty, I just… well it's just…" Matt fumbled around trying to voice his feelings and as usual, not sure how.

"Matt," Kitty gently reproved. "I really haven't had too much to complain about. I mean, sure, I would've loved it if we'd gotten married years ago when we first met but you and I weren't the same people then. Who knows if we would've made it this far? We had a lot of growing to do, a lot of living, before we could do this right."

Matt maneuvered his arm around her shoulders and hugged her close. "How'd I get so lucky to have you?" he murmured into her hair as he kissed her forehead.

With her free hand she pulled his face down to hers and kissed him properly before answering. "You weren't the only one who got lucky."

Awkwardly, Matt moved to deepen the kiss but with two children in his lap and one in hers, they both realized that was going to be a little too difficult.

Kitty laid her head back against Matt's shoulder. "Well, maybe we'll get another kind of lucky when we get home." She said with a light chuckle.

"I sure hope so." Matt sighed.

Kitty continued to lie against him until a thought struck her. "Matt," she asked. "Do you ever wonder what our lives would've been like if we'd never met?"

Matt sat silently for a moment, looking down at his sons then over to his wife and daughter. "I don't want to wonder about that, Kitty." He finally said. "What I have now, is more than I ever thought I could dream of, much less have or deserve. But I do have it and I am so grateful and happy for that, and for you and the kids. I don't want to even contemplate any other life."

Snuggling into Matt's shoulder, Kitty nodded. "Me neither. You know, I remember when I was a saloon girl working in Abilene. That was a rough place for a girl and, at one time, I was sure I'd never make it out of there alive. When I did and found my way to Dodge, I was just as sure that I wasn't any better off there. Until I saw you, that is."

Kitty looked up lovingly into Matt's eyes and saw the same feelings reflected there. "I'm not one to really give much credence to the theory that our lives are already planned by a higher power, but I have to say, I do believe we were meant to be together. No matter what we went through, we were meant to be here, together."

Matt remained silent as he considered her words and realized he whole heartedly agreed with her. No matter what they had gone through, no matter what they might yet go through, they were meant to be.

Pulling her in even closer than before and planting one more kiss on her forehead, Matt smiled. "You know something?" he said. "Tomorrow is Christmas day, and everybody in Orleans is going to wake and go to their tree and unwrap gifts of all kinds. But absolutely no one there, will have gifts any better than the ones I've already been given."

Looking down once again at his wife and kids, he sighed deeply, content in the knowledge that he had been given the best Christmas gifts of any one he knew. Only these gifts wouldn't wear out or break or lack in size or design. These gifts were for always and they were perfect for him.

Huddled tightly in her husband's embrace, Kitty was feeling the same way as her husband. Smiling sleepily, she closed her eyes thinking of the wonderful gifts God had bestowed upon her in the form of her husband and children.

Her life may not have been perfect and there were maybe still a few things she either wanted or needed but they weren't important. She had what she had really always wanted. And everything else was not important.

Finis.


End file.
